The U.S. government has much in common with citizens who are under water on their mortgages. But unlike homeowners facing foreclosure and the temptation to walk away from homes that are worth far less than their mortgages, the government must find nations, such as China, to loan us more and more money to stay afloat.

This year’s deficit of $1.6 trillion is a whopping 10.6 percent of gross domestic product, and while President Obama has pledged to stop the flow of red ink caused by too many wars and too little income, the outlook 10 years down the road, while not as bleak, is bleak enough.

Long after Obama is out of office, the deficit will begin creeping up again – it already stands at $34,000 for every citizen – and that can only mean that either Republicans will have to agree to tax hikes or Democrats will have to agree to trimming entitlement programs. More likely, both.

How bad is the deficit in Obama’s $3.8 trillion budget? For one, China has started asking tough questions about the massive amounts of debt it holds, and whether the U.S. Treasury is strong enough to pay it back when the debt becomes due.

For another, massive debt casts doubts on the way the world looks at America. Japan, for example, found its place in the world diminished because of the massive debt that has hobbled the country in the past decade.

Then there is the matter of two expensive wars. Obama has pledged to pull out of Iraq next year, but, if the experiences of Russia and Britain are indicators, extricating ourselves from the quagmire of Afghanistan will prove elusive until the American people won’t stand for it any more.

The decade that the Soviet Union spent in Afghanistan nearly destroyed the Soviet military and the country’s morale. What do we know that the Russians don’t?

Historically, America has experienced massive debts during both world wars. But there were expectations that those wars would end, and the country would return to peacetime prosperity. The same can’t be said of these wars and these times.

TARP money was supposed to help create jobs, yet the unemployment rate is actually two points higher than it was when the TARP program began. The jobless rate in California – more than 12 percent – is even higher than the national rate.

And still, as he did during his State of the Union message, Obama blames it all on Bush. True, the Bush years saw the deficit skyrocket. But now Obama, who applied for the job and won it, owns the $1.6trillion deficit.

Much as he would like to blame it all on the Republicans, it’s time for him to put his finger in the dike and realize that the water is cold, the job is lonely and red ink stains the nation’s fabric.

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